In Toronto, the Rosedale subway station is a drafty, ugly above ground
station without any heritage value above any other subway station. Yet it
has been designated a Heritage Site. Why? Because the residents of upper
middle class Rosedale didn’t want a condominium built over the station which
is on the western edge of Rosedale. What better place for a condo than right
on the main north/south road, Yonge Street, of Toronto? Obviously, it was
done to stop the construction of a condo rather than for any heritage value.
Also, it is obvious that the heritage designation was misused in this case.

St. Clair Avenue is an important east/west street in Toronto. It has a
designated streetcar line down its centre and passes through Rosedale and
Forest Hill both upper class enclaves in Toronto. Recently, residents of
these areas managed to get ALL the churches on St. Clair (except for the
Unitarian church) designated as Heritage Sites. Most of these churches are
ugly Victorian piles of stone with declining or minimal members. One of them
was down to 15 aged members. Only one of these churches (Timothy Eaton),
IMO, deserve to be a Heritage site. Again, the heritage designation was
used to prevent development in areas which should be developed because of
existing subway and streetcar routes.
When will we stop the use of heritage designation from subverting normal
planning in Toronto?